MG Certified hatcheries/breeders?

[nanasbitties]

Poultry Pedia suggest treating the infected hen while she is laying with Baytril .25cc X 5 days which will greatly reduce the chances of passing it to the chick....but I agree test your birds

 

[nanasbitties]

Also I talked to a gentlemen at the dept. of Ag. and he said MG/MS is rampant in the broiler and layer industry you just dont hear about it.Also MG/MS is among most backyard flocks and flock owners dont even know it...and that most hatcheries have it and dont tell you....aint that some crap.

 

[Mskayladog]

So what's a backyard chicken lover do? All the reading everywhere says its not safe to buy at auctions, not safe to buy chicks from breeders you don't know and now its not safe to buy from a hatchery and I'm guessing that includes chick days at TS.
Not all of us are able to hatch out our own chicks.

 

[Boggy Bottom Bantams]

It's just a hard thing to get away from. No 100% certain way about it. Thank God it's not very deadly

 

[SunnySkies]

Research indicates that about 25% of commercial broiler flocks are positive for MG, even with the all-in-all-out policy. http://maxwellsci.com/print/ijava/v4-45-48.pdf is one such study (yes, it is not US based, but I can't find any US based ones. However, IME with commercial poultry, I would say this is probably true in US flocks too.)

It seems that commercial layer flocks are even more infected, and again I can't find any US-based prevalence studies http://www.lifescienceglobal.com/images/Journal_articles/JBASV8N1A29-Mukhtar.pdf, but the experts estimate that 33-50+% of commercial layer flocks are infected around the world.

Since most backyard people do not follow all-in-all-out, obtain birds from various sources, and have birds that are outside and may contact wild birds and dirt, the estimates for infections in backyard flocks are higher. I was taught 80-90% myself in veterinary school. I think 95% is too high myself. But 80-90% seems reasonable to me.

It happens. I have a closed flock. I practice biosecurity like nobody's business after having been involved during the course of my work with some major disease outbreaks. Yet I got one sick bird recently. I played the odds, knowing it's here and easy to pick up any time, and treated instead of culling (he culled himself). But this is why you will be hard pressed to find any large commercial MG certified free flocks. It's very difficult to prove and maintain MG free status.

 

[EweSheep]

During my days in vet school, 80 to 85 percent of the flock HAVE MS/MG but some are carriers and some would die from it at the sighest stress.

Testing is the only way. One MG free breeder that comes to mind is Will Morrow, out in PA. He tests his flock every four to six months to keep his MG status on his NPIP certifications.

Sometimes MG/MS would be around, even if you buy MG free birds and the minute it gets on your grounds, it can either be a negative MG/MS or positive for MG...you just have to keep your birds tested to be MG free.

We all have to make do about it, just like the chicken pox virus in our bodies, either we be immunized or go thru the ordeal of chicken poxes, the itching, blistering kind. UGH! Just be aware of it and be honest about your birds.

 

[pips&peeps]

Will Morrow, to my knowledge, is not MG free, he is MG monitored.

If you read back a couple pages I copied and pasted the rules for NPIP to be MG free.


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[nanasbitties]

MG/MS is the Poultry Industries and Hatcheries dirty little secret that is why you cant find any Stats on it in the US. It is very rare that flocks test totally free, It is something we are all going to have to deal with and accept the fact that it is out there and not going away whether you know you have it or not...furthermore testing every 6 mos. can get a bit expensive and either way if you sell chicks or eggs and they go to a new home that has MG/MS and doesn't know it then what, they get it and the disease keeps going this is why I said you will never eradicate the disease you have to deal with it...there is alot of info out there on MG/MS most say cull...I say do your homework first and don't believe everything you read or hear, there is some good info out there just be mindful of where it is coming from the farmer who makes his living at doing this or the professor that can't even identify what breed you have because he has never seen it, he works in a lab that is funded by the government and it is easier for him to tell you to cull because he doesn't make his living at raising them, the FARMER does so who looks out for him not the government...He has to make the best choice for him and his flock....So once again do your homework a good place to start is Poultry Pedia.

 

[Sonja73]

Wow, I know this is an older thread, but it was extremely interesting to read. Mice do not carry it, there are no studies to say how prevalent it is in the US, and there are Independent flock owners that are MG certified. I would absolutely hate to think that anyone buys into the "it is everywhere and everyone has it" and continues to produce and sell diseased birds/eggs. Okay, rant over.

 

[MacCana]

This is very interesting, so I am jumping on board. Maybe we can get the discussion back onto this. It is very important, in my opinion to cull birds that are sick. The reason there is a huge problem is because people are too soft to deal with doin' what you have to do sometimes (cull), and they sell off birds to people with healthy flocks, where one sick bird multiplies to 25, and unless they cull, they also help to spread the disease.
I am awaiting test results to tell me the results of my little flock, which consists of breeders of Silver Grey Dorking, Silkies, lavender guinea, Ameraucana, 1 barred rock & one bourbon red turkey.
If results come back with a respiratory disease, I know what I must do. Depopulate & restart.

It's not fun for anyone, but it is our responsiblility once we decide to take on chickens.
And it's what all of you should also do unless you're going to keep an *all in* closed flock & practice *strict* bio-security measures to ensure any diseases your birds have stay on your property and doesn't spread to other flocks.
But most don't do that it seems, they are ill-informed so they only help to spread the disease. Ugghh.

It's so frustrating bc that's how my perfectly clean birds became infected. And this lady is still selling birds, even after I told her. Despicable.